Kowhiti 2011 Review in Maori and English and postscript

Kowhiti 2011 Review in Maori and English and postscript

Ka eke a Awherika ki runga marae
Africa comes to the marae

Ka whai a Kowhiti 2011 ki te Whare Waiata o Te Whanganuiatara i a Kowhiti 2010 ki te Papa Tongarewa i te wa o Matariki, a, he rawe ra nga rawa kia whaingia ai. He hu nui e tika ana kia kiia ai inahoki kaore nga mea pena i a Cat Ruka i hoki mai ai.

Kowhiti 2011 at the Wellington Opera House on September 15th had a lot to live up to following Kowhiti 2010 presented during Matariki of that year at Te Papa Tongarewa. Without Cat Ruka and others from the earlier event, there were big shoes to fill.

Engari kaore a Kowhiti 2011 i matau ai ki te whakaatu ano te whakaaturanga o 2010, ka taea tetahi mea rereke ano.

But Kowhiti 2011 did not try to repeat the 2010 event, it achieved something quite different.

Na taana ano ra mahi ka whakahou kau ra a Tanemahuta Gray, te tauira o te mahi teitei, i te kanikani teitei rawa i te whenua. He kanikani tango, he mahi whakamarama tino pai rawa na Lisa Maule, he rangi tino pai i te mahi whakararo tangata i nga tihitihi , hari kaungia i te atamira, kanikanitia, akina, arohaina, whakawehe hokitia.

Somehow, Tanemahuta Gray, the master of aerial work made dancing in the air all very fresh. There was tango, excellent lighting from Lisa Maule and good sounds to go with people being lowered from on high, swung across the stage, danced with, embraced, loved and rejected.

Ko tetahi ano mea i tu atu ai ko nga kakahu. Mai i te timatahanga he aronga mai i te Rawhiti i nga potae-kanohi, nga here waewae, te koru i nikotia ai i te to o nga tarau poto rawa, he ahua Javanese pea te mea nei.

Another thing to stand out was the costumes. From the beginning, there was an eastern influence in the mask-hats, the anklets, the stylised koru on the buttocks of the close fitting red shorts, something Javanese about it all.

Ko tetahi ano na mea ko te kakahu uma o Tuirina Wehi, he mea pango, he mea teitei hoki tena. Ka tu atu hoki nga kakahu kaha o etahi o nga kaikanikani wahine. Ka kanikani a Tru Paraha i nga hu teitei, tona makawe pango e rere ana, he kakahu pango i tona tinana.

Then there was the high black bodice of Tuirina Wehi and the strong costumes for some of the female Maori dancers. Tru Paraha danced in high heels, long hair hanging down and draped in black.

Engari ra ko te mea i whakamau i te titiro me te hinengaro ko te harihanga mai o Awherika, o te roopu e kiia nei ko Nkosinathi’s Cultural Group ki te Whare Waiata ki Te Whanganuiatara. Ka wehi te tangata ki te koi o te tinana me te wana o nga kaikanikani me to ratou piri, ratou i a ratou ano rawa.

But it was the bringing of Africa, of
Nkosinathi’s Cultural Group, all the way to the Opera House in Wellington that caught the attention and the imagination. The fitness and the frenzy of the dancers and the closeness of their actions together took the breath away.

He tohu rangatira tenei na Tanemahuta ratou ko Merenia ko Jenny Stevenson, nga kaiwhakahaere o te po. He manuhiri nga mea o te haute o Awherika, a, i te whakaotinga o nga wahanga e rua ka whaka rewa ratou i te minenga ki te pakipaki nui. I hoatungia ki a ratou te wahi mana mo te whakangahau, a, ka mau ratou i tenei kia whakahoki rawatia ai he koha kanikani hirahira rawa atu.

This was a masterstroke by Tane and Merenia Gray and Jenny Stevenson, the organisers of the evening. The South African dancers were manuhiri and both halves of the show finished with them bringing the audience to a rapturous applause. They were given performance pride of place and they took this with both hands and gave back a dance contribution of some magnitude.

He aronga mai i te Moana nui a Kiwa i etahi wahi pena i te Pehea Kou Pino? How is your spirit?, he ahua Hawaii i tenei. Engari ko te whakakuiti hirahira o te po ko nga taonga kanikani o Awherika me o te Maori. Ko te kanikani Maori i arahia na e Tanemahuta me Merenia ka rapurapu, ka torotoro hoki tena ki nga wao hou. Pena ra te mahi na nga kaikanikani i Nkosinathi’s Cultural Group engari ka whakahokia nga mea ki te kaupapa hoki. He tino koa Ngai Kiwi i te Gumboot Dance i te whakaotinga o te wahanga tuatahi i te patu waewae, te tu waewae hoki.

There was a Pacific influence in places with Pehea Kou Pino? How is your spirit? a piece with Hawaian aspects. But the distinction of the night was between Maori and African dance. The Maori dance led by Tanemahuta and Merenia explored and went into new places. The African dancers from Nkosinathi’s Cultural Group also explored but drove things back to basics as well. The Gumboot Dance at the end of the first half impressed the Kiwi locals no end with its slapping and stomping of feet.

Ka hoatungia nga mea hou ki nga kanikani o Awherika he rongo pai mo te wanawana me te winiwini, te pao me te mahi kanikani. Ka taea tenei i te wa o te karanga mai i nga kokonga tawhiti o te Whare Waiata.
People who had not seen African dance up close were given a good taste of frenzy, of pulsating rhythm and action. This happened in the context of karanga coming from the far corners of the upstairs section of the Opera House.

Ka eke a Awherika ki runga marae, a, ka whakatu puehu.

Africa came to the marae and kicked up some dust.

Kei waenganui tonu o tenei he mea whakakoikoi hinengaro. Ka puta mai a Future Fame hei mea kikino ke, kaha hoki i tana mahi Quantide. Na raua tahi ko Mase Boog te whakaaturanga nei. He mea karanga ki te ngakau tenei. Kei ro tonu i a ratau na mahi he whakaaro mo Mihaere Jackson me Abbot raua ko Costello me etahi mahimahi mai i nga pikitia wahangu,mai i te hikoikoi ki runga atamira me te mea e kiia na ko vaudeville.

Amongst all this there were some interesting features. Future Fame came through slick and strong in his Quantide series performed with Mase Boog. So evocative. Michael Jackson, Abbot and Costello and lots of routines from silent movies, shuffles and vaudeville came through their work.

He mea whakatoro hinengaro a Hine-Hine- Collective, a, ka hoatu ratou i te tipuranga hou e uru mai nei ki te kanikani o Aotearoa; te kaha hoki o nga wahine Maori e whakatakoto ana i a ratou ano wero me o ratou ano whakaaro i te kanikani. Ka whakaatu ratou i tetahi whakangahau kawa e rapu ana i te kaikohuru wahine.

Hine-Hine-Collective were intriguing and showed the new growth coming through in Aotearoa dance; the power of Maori women stating their challenges and reflections in dance. They presented a performance ritual exploring the female assassin.

He tirohanga whanui i tenei. Ko te kapu Whutuporo o te ao tetahi o nga ira i tenei wa kanikani. Ka kitea tenei i tetahi o nga kanikani Awherika engari kaore kau he rahi mo te poro whutuporo i etahi whakaaaturanga. I timata a Kowhiti 2011 i tetahi korero na Chris Findlayson nana nei i whakatakoto i te hohonu o te wa i a ia e powhiri ana i te roopu mai i te Komihana Teitei o Haute Awherika. Ka whakarunga ano ra a Merenenia Gray i te rangai o te po i tana mihi ataahua ki nga manuhiri.

There was a wider context to all of this. Part of the idea was a dance event during the Rugby World Cup. This did feature in some of the African dance but there was not a lot about the oval ball in other performances. Kowhiti 2011 began with a speech from Chris Finlayson who stated the significance of the African presence with some style as he welcomed a group from the South African High Commission. Merenia Gray took the significance of the evening to a greater level as she welcomed guests with consummate dignity.

I tu ngawari ai te roopu mai i te Komihana Teitei o Awherika ki te Tonga, he wa koa tenei ki a ratou i a ratou e pakipaki ana, pai ana hoki i nga mea kanikani i nga karanga koi atu i te rarangi tuatahi o reanga tuatahi i te Whare Waiata. Ka tautoko a Celia Wade Brown i a ratou i ana katakata, hamama hoki.

The group from the South African High Commission seemed to feel at home and had a fine time applauding and responding to the dance events by celebrating the performance with high-pitched trills and yells from the front row of the balcony in the Wellington Opera House. Her Worship the Mayor of Wellington, Celia Wade Brown, laughed and cheered with them.

I whakatepea te po i te whakaaturanga o nga taonga ki nga tangata pena i a Louise Bryant no Ngai Tahu nana i timata ai i te wahanga tuarua i Tumutumu, pena hoki i a Taiaroa Royal i tutaki pai ai ki te taonga oranga roa. Ka whakahoki a Celia Wade Brown i nga ahuatanga o te po ki te kaupapa i a ia e korero ana mo tona wa pakeke ake.

The evening was wrapped up with the presentation of awards to Louise Potiki Bryant of Ngai Tahu who started the second half with Tumutumu and a lifetime award to Taiaroa Royal. Celia Wade Brown took things back to ground level as she related the importance of dance to her while growing up.

He rahi ke nga mea I taea ai ki Koehiti 2011 I teathi wa poto. Ko Nkosinathi’s Cutural Group, na ratou te Pedi Dance me te Umzanzi tae hoki ra ki ta ratou whakaotinga o te whakaaaturanga i te Pantsula Dance. Ki waenganui tunu nga mea pena I te mea ataaahua, Rongo ma Tane na te Merenia Gray Dance Theatre. Ka kanikani a Ivica Novakovic o te Stuttgart Ballet i Rongo ma Tane.

So much happened in such a short time at Kowhiti 2011. Nkosinathi’s Cultural Group performed Pedi Dance and Umzanzi as well as finishing the show with Pantsula Dance. In between were such performances as the exquisite Rongo ma Tane by the Merenia Gray Dance Theatre. Ivica Novakovic of the Stuttgart Ballet danced in Rongo ma Tane.

He rahi ke nga mea hirahira I Kowhiti 2011, a ka kitea tena i etahi ahua rereke pena i te mihi ataahua na Merenia Gray. He whakaotinga ataahua i te po I te waiata na Mere Boynton. Apiti i tena ko te kauwhata rawe o te po katoa; he mea whakakoi kiri i te mea e whai ake i nga wa katoa.

There was a lot of class in Kowhiti 2011 seen in different ways as in the elegance of Merenia Gray in her opening speech. Toni Huata finished the evening in marvellous form with a song by Mere Boynton. The fine way in which the evening was structured added to things; there was always an excitement about the next event.

Engari kau ra he po tenei mot e kanikani. Ko nga kaikanikani Maori, he rahi ke te wa ma ratou e korero ki a koe. Ka taea nga mea i runga ano i te whakaaro ataahua. Ara, mai i a Awherika ka homai a Nkosinathi Chamo i tetahi ira mana mai i tetahi ano ao. Kaore he wa whakaaro i tena ao. Ka peke ake mai te kanitani ki a koe, ki te hari i a koe…

But it was a night of dance above all. The dancers in the Maori sections seemed to have time to tell you things. Things seem to happen with lots of grace. And then, out of Africa, Nkosinathi Chamo gave us a sense, a stamp of dance authority from another world. In that world you do not have time to think. Dance is springing at you, transporting you…

Postscript; questions were raised about race, dance and stereotypes. Inevitably when two ethnic groups meet, collide or just interact their dance forms precede them to some extent. Say Argentinians who tango meet Maori who haka or Russians who do Cossack dances or ballet…

While the African dances were wild and colourful they did not rest on clichés. One thinks though of reports about the classical ballet dancer Andile Ndlovu that paint a picture of alienation from his roots in Soweto and the forms of dance found there (CNN )

But one of the most interesting things about Kowhiti is its transcendence of stereotypes. There are no violent males, indeed there are few haka. There is a challenging of stereotypes in the work of, say, Cat Ruka in Kowhiti 2010 or Tru Paraha in Kowhiti 2011 but even there it is a question of finding and exploring rather than starkly stating ethnic identity through dance.
Kowhiti seems to offer post-colonial stereotypes if indeed it offers them at all.
This brings us to a consideration of world view; what is the epistemological basis and direction of the work? One might start with such models as that set out by Merata Kawharu but there is a world of questions and more than a few answers to explore.

Bibliography

Kawharu, M, 2010, Environment in a marae locale, in Maori and the environment: Kaitiaki, Ed Selby, Moore and Mulholland, Huia Publishers

Television article
CNN November 22, 2011 South African ballet dancer confounds racial stereotypes